Communications

Pursuant to the state’s public records law, I am requesting access to and copies of records from your agency as part of our continuing coverage of gun trafficking. I have broken the request into three parts, each of which details the records that we are seeking. As expressed below, the date range for each part of this request is January 1, 2010 to the present:

1) Detailed information on stolen guns

It is our understanding that law enforcement agencies keep detailed records about firearms that were reported stolen by the citizens they serve. We are therefore requesting the following for each case of reported firearm theft in your jurisdiction:

-- The police report number and/or incident number for the firearm theft-- The serial number, make, model, caliber, type and any other descriptive information for each firearm that was reported stolen

We would appreciate if this data was provided in a spreadsheet. If a spreadsheet is provided, please provide any record layout and/or code sheets.

The date range for this part is January 1, 2010 to the present.

2) Detailed information about crime guns

Second, it is our understanding that law enforcement agencies maintain detailed records about firearms that were used in crimes, recovered at crimes scenes or seized during investigations in their jurisdictions, including the make, model and serial number of each gun. We are therefore requesting the following:

-- The following records regarding firearms used in crimes in your agency’s jurisdiction, recovered at crime scenes or seized during investigations: the make, model, and serial number of each gun; the date of the crime; the police report number for the crime; the type of crime the firearm was used in; and the address where the crime was committed.

If your agency maintains a spreadsheet or database containing these records, we ask that you please provide that database. I would be grateful if this data was collated into a spreadsheet where each row represents one case, the same as part 1) “Detailed information about stolen guns.”

I would like to note that we are not at this time seeking copies of police reports or any other investigative records associated with these crimes; we are only seeking information about the firearms used and some general information about the crimes that is generally released to the public.

The date range for this part is also January 1, 2010 to the present.

3) Detailed information on lost, stolen or unaccounted for law enforcement guns

Finally, it is our understanding that law enforcement agencies maintain detailed records about firearms that, while under the control and/or in the possession of their employees, went missing, were lost or stolen, or are otherwise accounted for. Therefore we request the following:

-- Any and all records of department-issued firearms that were lost, stolen, went missing or are otherwise accounted for.

-- If your department does not issue firearms, then we ask for any and all records of firearms that were lost, stolen, went missing or otherwise became unaccounted for while under the control and/or in the possession of one of your employees.

The records should include but not be limited to the following:

• The make, model, serial number and caliber of each lost or stolen firearm• The location and address where the firearm was stolen• The date of the loss or theft. • The date the lost or theft was reported• Whether each lost or stolen firearm was recovered• If the lost or stolen firearm was recovered, the date and location of the recovery• A description of how the firearm was lost or stolen• Whether negligence on the part of the employee is/was suspected in the loss or theft of the firearm• Whether the employee in control of the firearm retired, was terminated or otherwise left the department, and if so, the date and circumstances of the employee’s departure and whether his or her gun was retrieved and/or recovered. • Any other individual reports and findings on the individual lost or stolen firearms

The records should include but not be limited to databases, reports, memos, internal affairs investigations, emails or other correspondence, and/or any other records.

The date range for this part is also January 1, 2010 to the present.

Please label each record in a clear manner. As a news organization, we will be making information obtained from this request available to the general public and are not requesting it for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you informed me of the total charges before completing my request. We request that if you send an invoice, you make it out to The Trace.

I would prefer the requested information be sent via an e-mail attachment if available, or a mailed CD-ROM if not. If standard mail must be used, we ask that you send the request to the following address:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 31, 2016. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

I have been assigned to your public record request. The Akron Police Department has been reviewing the request and is in the process of gathering records. The City’s records are not organized in the manner in which you request the records so the Police Department is determining the best way to comply with your request. I will be in touch once I have more information for you.

As you can see from all departments this request is overly broad and we cannot fill the request as such. Ten years worth of records would include thousand's of reports and at this time would be a hardship on the APD Record Room to fill.

Thank you for looking into this. In regards to parts 1 and 2, the most important information for us are the case and serial numbers for the guns. Would this be information you could provide going back to 2010?

For part 3, are there any audits, says, of weapon inventories, internal investigations, range reports, or police reports for officers whose guns have been lost or stolen?

This email contains a partial response to your public record request set forth below. I have researched your request and determined:

In response to request #1, “Detailed information on stolen guns”, the City does not keep it’s records in the manner in which you are requesting. The City does not keep a spreadsheet of this information. The City generally keeps its records by report number, name, address or type of offense. Searching by the type of offense could bring up thousands of unrelated reports. For example, if we search for burglary, this will bring up all burglary reports, not just the ones involving firearms that were reported stolen by citizens. If you can rephrase your request, we may be able to assist you further.

In response to request #2, the City is still researching this request.

In response to request #3, “Detailed information on lost, stolen or unaccounted for law enforcement guns” for the date range January 1, 2010 to the present, the City is providing incident reports which are attached to this email. I have redacted information that is not public record from the requested records. Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §149.43(B)(3), if the City of Akron denies a public record request, in whole or in part, the City must provide the person making the request with an explanation, including legal authority, setting forth why the request was denied. If the initial request was provided in writing, the explanation must also be provided in writing. The explanation provided does not preclude the City from relying upon additional reasons or legal authority in defending an action brought under R.C. §149.43(C). The reasons for the redactions are as follows: The records you requested contain information that does not meet the definition of a “public record” found in Ohio Revised Code (ORC) §149.011; Social security numbers, Federal Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. section 552a and State ex rel. Office of Montgomery Cty. Public Defender v. Siroki (2006), 108 Ohio St.3d 207, 842 N.E.2d 508, 2006 -Ohio- 662; State ex rel. Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. Akron, 70 Ohio St.3d 605, 612, 1994-Ohio-6; and peace officer residential and familial information, R.C. §149.43(A)(1)(p)and (7). The explanation provided does not preclude the City from relying upon additional reasons or legal authority in defending an action brought under R.C. §149.43(C).

Regarding your request for the “make, model, serial number and caliber of each lost or stolen firearm”, the City is providing the following response:

The location and address where the firearm was lost or stolen has been redacted if it would identify a police officer’s home address. One of the officer’s has retired from employment. His letter of resignation is attached hereto.

I started formatting the crime gun information you provided in the last email and noticed that the EFP numbers all begin with 16. Are these all the crime guns going back to 2010, or just those from 2016?

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I followed up on this question with our Police Department. The information provided was only for 2016. Please accept my apology for that and thank you for catching it. APD is running another report now.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: THIS ELECTRONIC MAIL TRANSMISSION AND ANY ATTACHMENTS HERETO IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO WHICH IT IS ADDRESSED AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT, CONFIDENTIAL, OR EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR TRANSMISSION TO OR RECEIPT BY ANY UNAUTHORIZED PERSON. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS ELECTRONIC MESSAGE IN ERROR OR ARE NOT THE NAMED RECIPIENT PLEASE DELETE THIS MESSAGE FROM YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY AND NOTIFY THE SENDER OF THE ERROR BY REPLYING TO THE E-MAIL. THANK YOU.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: THIS ELECTRONIC MAIL TRANSMISSION AND ANY ATTACHMENTS HERETO IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO WHICH IT IS ADDRESSED AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT, CONFIDENTIAL, OR EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR TRANSMISSION TO OR RECEIPT BY ANY UNAUTHORIZED PERSON. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS ELECTRONIC MESSAGE IN ERROR OR ARE NOT THE NAMED RECIPIENT PLEASE DELETE THIS MESSAGE FROM YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY AND NOTIFY THE SENDER OF THE ERROR BY REPLYING TO THE E-MAIL. THANK YOU.